Working with our local communities across Edinburgh and the wider region can provide you with experiential learning as part of your degree. Depending on your programme of study, working with local communities may already be a standard part of it through, for example, the practice component of a nursing or medical degree. Even if this experiential learning isn’t automatically part of your degree (and even if it is!), there are other opportunities you may wish to take advantage of. Our Health Our Health invites groups of students from a range of disciplines to research health-related questions set by community partners. Students studying any subject can take part – you do not need to be studying healthcare. If you choose to participate in Our Health course as a Student Led Individually Created Course (SLICC), you can get credit for your involvement. Find out more: Our Health Students as Change Agents Students as Change Agents gives students a chance to make a real-world positive social impact. You can be studying at any subject at any level – you just need an inquisitive mind. You work on a complex challenge posed by an organisation from the non-profit, public or private sector. You don’t gain credit but it is an excellent opportunity for personal and professional development. Find out more: Students as Change Agents Currents: Understanding and addressing global challenges This is an undergraduate course run by the Edinburgh Futures Institute. It is open to undergraduates at all levels in any discipline. You focus on a current challenge facing the world, which may be having an impact locally as well as globally. Alongside lectures by leading academics and professionals from industry, government and the third sector, you will document your own reflections on the challenge, and look at the role of data in understanding and responding to complex challenges. Find out more: Currents: Understanding and addressing global challenges Community Engagement: Co-constructing Knowledge with Communities This is a credit-bearing, online professional learning course which aims to equip those who work with, engage, gather information from, facilitate, and build community engagement links with the skills to do so successfully. The course can be taken alone or as part of an MSc degree. Find out more: Community Engagement: Co-constructing Knowledge with Communities The Festival of Creative Learning The University’s Festival of Creative Learning is a chance for teachers and students alike to try out more experimental ways of learning and teaching, including those that involve working with local communities. Find out more: The Festival of Creative Learning More courses on offer The above is not an exhaustive list for all of the experiential learning courses on offer at the University. There are many more available, some of which are linked to specific subject areas. To find out about other experiential learning courses on offer, please visit the Centre for Experiential Learning website. Find out more: More experiential learning courses This article was published on 2024-07-22
